Ball Joints Hmmmmm
 

I was all prepared for the battle of my MB life. The removal of the ball joints. Well, each one only took a single smack with a 15 oz hammer and they moved. 2 wacks and it was almost out.

Anything to be concerned about?

Thank's
Don

Your karma can only go downhill from there.

Hey, Don,

Buy some lottery tickets today ;)

Out is no problem, getting the new ones in is!

Peter

Unbelievable! Am I the only poor bastard that had to use a torch?!!

"In" was a piece of cake for me - 60 seconds per, with the tool from Pep Boys.

I almost broke a 12 ton H press Doing my SD and SE..........

William Rogers.........

You'd better hide under the bed the rest of the weekend:eek:

To almost break a press are you sure you were pushing them out the right way? The flat surface of the joint is the what gets smacked or pressure applied. Not trying to insult anyone, but mine came out so easy its hard to image needing that kind of force.

Don

My brother and I did one on his SDL -- out was easy, a 5 lb sledge did the trick in the old vise.

Going back in, without power tools, we bent the Harbor Freight tool. Ball joint is all the way down, though!

Peter

Maybe the smack of a sledge hammer does a better job of loosening up the corrosion between the ball joint and its seat than the steady pressure of a press.

The press probably bent, bent, bent and then WHANG! it popped loose.

Ball joints are best tested by jacking up the wheel, right? Not the frame? So you keep the spring normally compressed?

Ken300D

No, jack the frame and leave the wheel hanging free, the apply upward force on the bottom of the wheel to check for play.

Otherwise the weight of the car is sitting on the balljoint.

The other clue is groaning on turns. Usually the joint is good until the boot fails and the grease either leaves or gets dirty or wet. Wear then occurs rapidly, or the joint corrodes, leading to looseness or lack of clearance, depending.

So long as the boot is intact, some play is acceptable. My Volvo drove pretty good with about 8 mm play in the ball joints! Chuckled going over rough roads, though...

Peter

I have put one new ball joint in. The base now comes through the mounting hole by more than 1/16". The one I pulled was not even flush.

I think someone didn't seat the last ball joints in all the way which may explain my good fortune in removing them.

Don

When I had the full 12 tons of force on it I rapped it with a hammer lightly, it came out like a rocket not a good idea.

The new ones pressed in with no problem. I used a discared upper control arm that fit perfectly over old ball joint in the removeal process see photo............

William Rogers..........

Well thats done...Sunday the LCA bushings

The picture above with the split firewood in the background made me think of the last time I needed some brute force---and did not have a shop press or the "right tool"....

...I used my hydraulic wood splitter! I rigged up a "cover" for the splitting wedge, worked the control lever *very* gingerly, and kept my body stratigically hidden from anything that might have come shooting out of there in a hurry.

You gotta' do what you gotta' do.